Ant\u00f3nio Azevedo was in central Lisbon early on Wednesday evening, waiting to gather enough tourists for a ride in his tuk-tuk, when he heard what sounded like dozens of glass containers being dropped into rubbish trucks.<\/p>\n
The driver looked around Restauradores Square but saw no trucks, only smoke rising from the lower station of the Elevador da Gl\u00f3ria funicular railway, 100 metres from where his vehicle was parked.<\/p>\n
Azevedo and other local business owners dashed to the scene to find that one of the Gl\u00f3ria trams had derailed and crashed into a building in Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon\u2019s main artery.<\/p>\n
Shocked, disoriented and unsure of what to do amid all the screaming and crying, the helpers began picking up metal pieces from the ground, wondering if they should try to lift what remained of the car\u2019s main structure in case survivors were trapped beneath it.<\/p>\n
Police officers inspect the wreckage of the derailed streetcar . Photograph: Armando Fran\u00e7a\/AP<\/p>\n
One fellow rescuer passed a bleeding young boy to Azevedo, who held him as he cried for his father. Soon after, police and firefighters arrived at the scene and ordered Azevedo and the others not to touch or move anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking around \u2013 the crying and the screaming gave way to complete silence,\u201d said the 45-year-old driver. \u201cThere was a mountain of bodies that were not asking for help. They no longer moved; some were torn apart. I had never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mohammad Farid rushed down from his souvenir store in Restauradores Square to help. But for many, it was already too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to rescue people, to save lives,\u201d Farid said. \u201cBut no one was asking for help because they were dead. They were dead in seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Thursday morning, the scene of the accident \u2013 in which 16 people died and 21 were injured<\/a> \u2013 was filled with flowers and candles to honour the dead and mark the national day of mourning declared by the Portuguese government.<\/p>\n Onlookers stand behind a police line, taking photographs of the wreckage on their phones. Photograph: Patr\u00edcia de Melo Moreira\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The list of people caught up in the disaster reflected its international dimension. As well as Portuguese citizens, those being treated in hospital included people from Canada, Cape Verde, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. Prosecutors said on Thursday evening that the dead included five Portuguese citizens, two Koreans and one Swiss national.<\/p>\n A group of local people standing close by the site were discussing what could have caused the tragedy. In the 1970s, Argentina Pereira, now 80, used to work in the Suisso Atl\u00e2ntico Hotel in Rua da Gl\u00f3ria, where the tram derailed.<\/p>\n She talked of the strain the funicular had been under since Lisbon began to establish itself as one of Europe\u2019s biggest tourist magnets over the past decade.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to take the funicular four times a day [in the 1970s],\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a beautiful time, and a different time. Now they allow more than 40 people aboard, but back then, no more than 20 people could travel at the same time. I think 40 is probably too much, and if they want it that way, they should do periodic inspections every two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n